How To Become A Professional List-Maker?

Lists are everywhere you look. You simply can’t avoid them in modern life. To-do lists, grocery lists, playlists, packing lists, bucket lists… The list is endless (pardon the pun!). If you don’t make lists you either have phenomenal memory or are simply disorganized. Social media users especially appreciate all sorts of lists.

Why We Love Lists?

There are several reasons we make lists.

Firstly, we want to avoid forgetting things. No matter if the list is short-term or long-term, there are certain things we would prefer to keep in our mind. Coming back to lists reminds us of them and keeps them fresh in our mind.

Secondly, some lists let us cross things off after having completed them, which brings us great satisfaction. Psychologically speaking, this a great means of rewarding yourself. How much pleasure do you personally get from completing something you have planned to do?

Things To Improve

It is not enough to enumerate items to make a great list. We all know people whose lists resemble works of art or even scientific calculations – different people have different needs and approaches. You will have to discover what works best for you personally. Whatever makes you more efficient is usually the answer. Below are some tips that should help you with this not-so-straightforward process:

1. The “Brain Dump”

There is little point in making a list that is so extensive that it can’t be accomplished in the foreseeable future. You will simply get frustrated and self-critical for no reason. Start with the more urgent things – the ones that need doing over the next few days. List them all first.

Try to assess that list from a slightly different angle. Prioritize items and decide what you should get started with first and what can wait. What can you accomplish today? Move those things to the list for today. This way you will get to cross them off soon enough! Start every new day with this procedure.

2. Use colors for longer lists

Your list might appear long, but a lot of the tasks do not take much time to accomplish. They still require some prioritizing nevertheless. Some people go as far as listing every single move no matter how minor. It would be difficult to see what is the priority. Colored highlighters can help you in this case – red can signify the most important task, then goes orange and so on.

After you have color-coded all items, you can make a new list starting with items of highest importance.

3. Save time and effort by making the most of others’ lists

Some of the tasks you have planned may have been performed by other, more qualified people. If you are traveling and want to plan what you want to see and visit there is usually no need to start from scratch. Other tourists have visited the city before and made an extensive list of the main sights that warrant attention. Obtain their list and pick what interests you specifically.

You might be a college student looking for a reliable paper writing service. After you come across a few resources, you will undoubtedly make a list of the most promising ones. The next logical question will be “Do you know PapersBattle?”, for instance. To save your time you can just search for 'paper writing service reviews’ and you will get an answer much faster.

4. Approach tasks in order

If you have prioritized your tasks there must be a reason for it. Start with #1 and get it done before you move any further. Resist the temptation to approach the easiest, quickest tasks first, leaving the more challenging ones for later. This way you will have to tackle the hardest tasks when you have the least energy, which is a bad idea in any case. Try to approach the tasks in order of importance.

5. Don’t punish yourself

If you have followed the tip above and approached the key tasks first, you might find yourself in a situation where you haven’t managed to start with the ones at the bottom of the list. Review your progress at the end of the day. Most of the time it would not be a problem to transfer them to the list for tomorrow. Reward yourself for accomplishing the main tasks today and get the best out of your head before you go to bed.

This was yet another list for you. Make the most out of those tips by extracting what is useful. Hopefully, it can help you on your journey to becoming an expert list-maker.

If you remember the times when you were a student (or if you still are) and had to do a lot of essay writing, you can now thank your teachers because the skills you learned help in list-making too. Nowadays it is easy to find a writing service, even specifically an essay writing service. Refresh your skills by going through best thesis writing service reviews and picking the most appropriate one for your needs. You will be surprised how useful the skill can be in everyday life.

You should also check out the following resources for more inspiration: